Gurdarshan Mangat Withdraws From ONE 164; Search For Replacement To Face Danny Kingad Begins

Last Monday, October 24, ONE Championship dropped a piece of big news that confirmed the participation of four more Filipino mixed martial arts standouts from the fabled Team Lakay on the fight card headlined by their stablemate and reigning strawweight king Joshua Pacio.

One of the notable names slated to strut their wares at the highly-anticipated ONE 164 live event—which is set for December 3 at the 20,000-capacity SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines—is Danny Kingad.

It was announced that Kingad would lock horns with Indian-Canadian sensation Gurdarshan Mangat in a three-round flyweight encounter.

However, a reliable source told the International Business Times that Mangat had to withdraw from the bout against Kingad due to an undisclosed injury.

Mangat's unexpected pullout was then verified during Team Lakay's online media availability on Thursday, October 27, and representatives from the promotion assured members of the press who attended the virtual meet that a replacement opponent will be announced soon.

Mangat has been knocking on the door for a spot in the flyweight division's Top Five, winning four of his last five assignments under the ONE Championship banner.

A win at ONE 164 could have helped his case to enter the rankings of the 61.2-kilogram weight class as Kingad is currently rated at No. 4 in the standings and a former world title challenger.

As for Kingad, the Filipino seeks to reinsert his name into the winner's column after sustaining a unanimous decision loss at the hands of ex-ONE flyweight titleholder Kairat Akhmetov in December 2021.

Kingad will be joined by Pacio, who puts his strawweight gold at stake versus vocal American challenger Jarred Brook in the main event of ONE 164.

Meanwhile, Kingad and Pacio's veteran teammate and former ONE flyweight titlist Geje Eustaquio is also booked to go head-to-head with China's Hu Yong.

A seat in the women's atomweight rankings could be waiting for the winner in the clash between Team Lakay's Jenelyn Olsim and Chinese heroine Meng Bo.

To round off the Team Lakay lineup, Jeremy Pacatiw has been given a shot at redemption on December 3 as he takes on Myanmar's Tial Thang.